


A Random Act of Kindness Goes A Long Way

by Azuresoundoff



Series: Chinese Ribbon Dancer [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, I find myself writing a more mature Plagg in my stories for some reason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 20:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6625642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azuresoundoff/pseuds/Azuresoundoff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Are there such things as Monday the 13th? Guilt-ridden over allowing her own mother to become injured during an akuma attack, Marinette takes it upon herself to take her mother's place as ribbon dancer in a much anticipated Chinese Dance performance. Yet the stresses of constant dance classes, Chloe utterly ruining all of her hard work, and trying to protect Paris wears her out and its not helping when her partner tumbles into her room injured from a Akuma attack</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Are there such things as Monday the 13th?

**Author's Note:**

> So I mentioned in my previous submission that I'd post this fanfiction up. This one was dedicated to my dear friend on tumblr, littlemissquiggles who is a major fan of Plagg/Tikki. Whats so funny about this was that a week after I posted all three chapters, Evillustrator episode came out and squigg-chan was teasing me about it. This was actually my very first fan fiction in over five years and it was fun writing it. I promise to have the other two up soon.

Ladybug swung through the air with grace and ease as the last glimpses of the setting sun disappeared behind the lilac and blazing orange clouds. Paris’s nightlife came alive as the choruses of car horns, people yelling and street performers playing music for a buck echoed the city. Every streetlight, headlight, and string light flickered to life, giving the city of romance a warm glow. It was quite a beautiful sight to see. 

However, Ladybug wasn’t in the mood to even taken the scene. It seemed that today’s disastrous events were taking a toll on her. As Marinette, she got a D on her math test no thanks to an akuma attack that happened the night before. Her teacher scolded her for being late for the third time this month and made her stand outside again. Queen bee, Chloe, purposely dumped paint on her latest fashion creation, a patchwork skirt, and simply claimed ignorance in front of her peers. And she got hit in the head by self-proclaimed king of competitions Kim’s soccer skills. Oh and there was more and more of terrible events that Mari could list that happened today. Just thinking about it made her poor head spin.

Her hero persona, on the other hand, seemed to get a slightly lesser punishment of this unfortunate day. Hawk Moth’s daily akuma attack had reared its ugly head yet again, and today’s poor victim who had fallen into despair was a reenactment actress that was mocked by Chloe and Sabrina for portray what they called a “shoddy version of the infamous Queen of France Marie Antoinette.”  
Ladybug felt sorry for the poor woman as it was her first day on the job and couldn’t imagine how many times she had practiced the queen’s famed lines in the mirror every night. But despite her pity for the poor lass, her villainess identity, “Queen Marie Antoinvendetta” was no laughing matter as she was capable using duel rapiers and summoning monsters made out of diamonds.  It took at least the last class period, plus two hours and at least three lucky charms summons to defeat the monster queen. Tikki practically went through her whole entire lunch just so she could aid Chat Noir. 

_Chat Noir…_

She swallowed hard at the memory of her partner parrying both Marie’s rapiers as he struggled on avoiding her diamond beasts. She remembered how many times he was tossed around like a rag doll as she watched helplessly from behind bushes and statues while waiting for Tikki to finish eating. And yet it amazed her to see just how resilient her partner was. Despite all the damage that he took, he still was able to get up and fight.  

She did ask if Chat was alright. But like always, he took advantage of her concerns by lifting her chin and saying a cheesy romantic line he possibly picked up from some stupid TV ad for perfume for men before “high-tailing” out of there. See how fast he moved, she only assumed that he only suffered bumps and bruises. 

She swung herself down to the post that was littered with yellow torn posters of concerts that occurred months ago. Ladybug quickly surveyed the area, making sure that no one saw her. A bright red light swirled around her as the power of luck left her body and formed back into her adorable red and black Kwami, Tikki. Tikki looked down worryingly at her partner as in Ladybug’s place stood a disheveled girl with an ugly mustard yellow paint that stained her handmade dress.

“It will be okay, Marinette,” she whispered, trying desperately to comfort the girl.

It saddened the Kawami to see her human depressed. Marinette only nodded and did another quick check of the area, this time to make sure that a certain tomcat followed her home. Ladybug knew that Chat was a sly kitty and it forced her take different routes each day just to lose him when he attempted to follow her home.  

“Mama,” she yelled as the front door chimed, “I’m home.” 

“Welcome home, dear!” her mother’s voice rang from the upstairs apartment, “How was your day?” 

“Fine.”

 _Just peachy…_

Mari signed as she kicked off her shoes. The comforting scent of her father’s fresh baguettes baking in the oven and her mother’s homemade Kung Pow chicken simmering on the stove wafting through the air comforted her just a little as she made her way up the stairs. Her stomach gurgled loudly, causing muffled snicker to rattle her purse. She barely even got to the top of the step when her mother let out a gasp. 

“Marinette, sweetie,” Sabine cried, the clattering sound of a plastic salad bowl hitting against the stainless steel sink harmonized with her voice, “your dress!” 

Marinette swallowed hard and looked away as the clicking sound of her mother’s crutches drew closer. The aggravating noise made her feel sick to her stomach as it reminded her of how she failed to protect her own mother from an Akuma attack.   

It was only last month, but it just felt like it had happened just yesterday. Ladybug was on a solo mission to stop the Conductor, a musical themed akuma who had just broken into the Palais Garnier theatre where Sabine and her dance troupe were practicing for the much anticipated Chinese traditional dance. She remembered watching in horror as her poor mother was thrown from a blast by the conductor into the orchestra pit bellow. Ladybug’s mind became a haze after that. According to her best friend Ayla, she had ignored the Akuma and rushed to her mother’s side, carrying her directly out of harm’s way before swiftly finishing the job. Somehow she wanted to blame this all on Chat for failing to show up when she needed him. Yet the moment she saw him later that night, she had ended up breaking down and cried into his chest as he held her tightly. 

Now the image of seeing her mother disappear into the void of the stage haunted her every time she looked at her. Even in her sleep, she sometimes had nightmares of running towards her but getting nowhere as her mother fell into an endless abyss. 

_And that was only number three of the top three horrible things happened to Marinette today._

“I-I only got paint on it, mama,” she muttered, flashing a dry smile, “I didn’t like it anyways and it’s ruined now. I plan on restarting from scratch after I study tonight.” 

“But you worked so hard on it,” Sabine sighed, “well; it was your design, dear. I have no say in the matter. Now tell me, how was today’s dance practice.” 

“G-Great… I-I think I’m really getting the hang of the Cai Dai Wu Dao ribbon dance.”  

_Liar…_

Out of all the dancers in the troupe, why did her mom receive a ribbon solo that was practically five minutes long! When she got out of the hospital, she referred her own daughter to the director as her replacement for the performance. Marinette knew all of her mother’s moves as she practiced alongside her during the weekends when she wasn’t saving Paris. However there were certain moves that made her trip and fall, earning her bruises, snickers from the other dancers and most importantly, rash critiquing from Monsieur Yang, the director of the troupe. 

“That’s good to hear! Monsieur Yang is singing high praises about you!” her mother said with a smile. 

_You sure that’s praises he’s singing, mom?_

“I-I’ve got a ton of homework tonight. May I take a bowl up?” she asked. 

She finally escaped her mother’s gabbing and retreated into her room. After a quick shower, Marinette headed back into her room and slid into her pink tank top and fuzzy pink pajama bottoms with white dots. She shut the door and let out another depressed sigh as she pulled out an orange and red ticket with the words “ _Zaohua Dance Company Performing live @ théâtre du Palais Garnier , le 17 Octobre_ ” stamped in golden bold letters and a silver Chinese dragon that wrapped as a border design.  

_Number one on Mari’s list of horrible things that happened to her… Mission Ask Adrien to your performance is a mission unaccomplished. God I let Chloe get to me again!_

Marinette was so close to asking Adrien if he wanted to go to the performance today. She knew that his father was stressing him out with photoshoots and meetings with business clients and she wanted to bring a smile to his face. Yet before she could collect herself, Chloe shoved her aside and stole Adrien again, jeering about what a loser Marinette was as she smirked at her.

“You can try and ask Adrien tomorrow,” Tikki suggested as she hovered over the girl. The girl shook her head sadly.

“Thanks Tikki but its too late,” she murmured, pushing a drenched strand of hair from her face, “Adrien has another photoshoot that weekend and besides, I think he promised to hang out with Chloe. After all, she only wants him for herself so its best that she jam pack his weekends with stuff to do with her just to spite me. Besides, he probably would go with her anyways.” 

Even if she was Ladybug, her luck wasn’t working today. Was there such a thing as Monday the 13th? Mondays were always a drag and today was the worst.  Everything she had hoped would turn out well went horribly wrong aside from the fact that Nino and Ayla confirmed that they had no plans for this weekend and were excited to see her performance. At least they would be there for support when she screw up her dance moves in front of the audience. Marinette tucked her knees under her chin, wishing for tomorrow to come more quickly. 

What else can go wrong?

Suddenly the sounds of disheveled footsteps outside made her head shot up from her knees. From across her darkened room, Mari spotted a large hulking shadow blocking the light given off by the Eiffel Tower. She could hear the sounds of disgruntled moans growing louder and louder. Marinette’s heart raced as fear took over. 

Was it a burglar? A zombie from the crypts below Paris? Or even worse, what if Hawk Moth actually found out about Ladybug’s true identity and sent another villain to hunt her down?  She was still recovering from this afternoon’s battle with Marie Antoinvendetta and Tikki was way too exhausted to help her transform. No way could she turn into Ladybug at this hour!

_Maybe it’s a pigeon… maybe a large overweight pigeon that’s the favorite of that Pigeon Man…_

Having no other choice but to defend Tikki, she held an aluminum bat ready crept closer to the window. The full dark mass now covered half of her window and the moaning continued to grow louder as it began to struggle with the latch. Mari readied herself, the bat held high above her right shoulder in batter position. 

“Why won’t it open?!” 

Suddenly the window swung in, hitting Marinette’s computer in the process. Marinette lunged forward, swinging wildly but missed as the bat made a loud crash against her hardwood floor. She looked up, and froze as the black mass came crashing down on top of her. 

Catching her breath, Marinette pulled herself up and looked down at the black figure lying limp in her lap. It was warm, heavy, and reeked of dirt, sweat and blood. She could feel the rough texture of cracked leather against her skin as the unknown creature nuzzled its head against her arms, moaning in pain. The sound of ragged gasps for air filled her ears as she motioned Tikki to turn on the light. 

“Chat Noir!” she gasped in a mixture of shock and horror. 

As if by instinct, she cradled his battered body and leaned his head against her shoulder. Millions of thoughts flooded her mind as she stroked his cheek. Why was he out here in the middle of the night? What was he doing? Did he follow her home?

_“I’d recognize you anywhere.”_

Her stomach flipped as his words echoed in her head. It dawned on her about the countless times her partner had tried to follow her home. There were times where she was forced to take the long way home just to lose him. He was always bugging her about wanting to hang out just as friends and not as partners. Yet, it never occurred to her that he may have seen her de-transform when she wasn’t looking. She knew that she lived in a district where there were alley ways for alley cats like him to hide and spy from. Shaking the thought from her mind, she knew that she had to be more concerned for his current condition. 

“What’s he doing here?” Tikki exclaimed, circling over Marinette’s head as she examined the cuts on his face.  

As her eyes skimmed down his body, she took instant notice to the large tear on his chest. Her hand flew up to the bell zipper but hovered over it as she looked up at his disgruntled face.   As Ladybug, she would not have given a second thought when she treated his injuries, and would ignore all of his flirtatious comments about her tender touch. But Ladybug wasn’t here; Marinette was…silly, stupid, naïve Mariette Dupain-Cheng was here and she was the one stuck with injured feline. 

Without hesitation, she grasped the zipper bell and tugged it down midway, revealing the horrendous bloodied gash Chat’s bare chest and smaller ones that littered his left arm. Her stomach flipped at the ghastly sight as she lightly brushed her finger tips against the wound, instantly recoiling when his body jerked at her touch. Why didn’t he tell her that his wounds were this severe? If she knew ahead of time, she would have instantly treated him! But of course, it would injure his pride as he didn’t want to look weak in front of Ladybug. Now here he was on top of her, his wounds already becoming infected.

Suddenly Marinette was flashing back to only a few hours ago. The sound of metal clashing echoed in her ears. She had just used up her last lucky charm and only four dots now remained on her miraculous. Chat clashed with Marie Antoinvendetta, proudly referencing the French Revolution as he swore to rebel against the queen in the name of his Lady. Sadly, his footing said otherwise as he stumbled backwards, leaving him open for an attack. Which Marie sadistically took as her rapier slashed against the leather, cutting him. 

“Marinette?” 

Mari’s head shot up at the sound of her father’s voice boomed from behind the door. 

“Marinette, what was that sound? Are you okay?” 

“I-It’s nothing, Papa… Just a cat… a cat surprised me!” 

_A very large cat…with wild green eyes, Cheshire grin, and a mop of blond hair._  

“Ah… okay. Go back to your studies. I’ll get you some goods from the bakery in a bit.” 

“G-great… thanks papa.” 

She let out a sigh of relief as the sound of her father’s loud footsteps clunked down the steps. Unfortunately for her, today was Scare Marinette Day as Chat’s ring let out a loud beep. She jumped five feet up off the ground before gravity took hold and she landed on her feet. She quickly pulled a pillow out from underneath the chaise and set it on Chat’s hand to muffle the sound until it stopped. Once it had quieted, she pulled the pillow off of his hand and peered down at the relic on his finger. What looked to be a cat’s paw glowing on the surface of the ring now had only three remaining prints on it. It would only be a few minutes before his transformation would wear off. 

Marinette cocked her head slightly and brushed a thumb over the emblem, wondering what Chat was like in his private life. Surely he was a rich spoiled womanizer with throngs of women all over him. He had the looks, the personality and the fan girls to prove that he was one.  And because of this picture, Ladybug would swiftly rebuff his advances or counter flirt just to leave him flustered as she believed that this tom-cat was only kidding when he said she was his “Lady.”

_“Why won’t you let me into your world, My Lady?”_

Still she wasn’t being fair judging him by the mask. There was still the boy that was hidden behind the mask. She remembered his latest plea from yesterday’s akuma attack. He had stopped her by grabbing her wrists as she tried to sprint off the rooftops in search of somewhere to de-transform. It became a regular habit of him to be nagging at her to get to know her personally. But it occurred to her that those comments went from flirty side notes to almost desperate. She remembered how his eyes were screaming “Don’t leave me” to her. And yet, he let her go. 

Marinette felt regret bubbling up in the pit of her stomach. Since the Robo-Cop attack, she began to question her image of Chat Noir. While yes, flirting habits made her take him less seriously as boyfriend material, she had realized how far he would go to prove his love for Ladybug. Time and time again, he would always show up when she needed him the most and had even gambled with death just to protect her. His green eyes were always fixed on the red clad heroine, even when fangirls that were far more attractive than her ran up to him. All in all, it made it clear to Marinette that Chat Noir had no feelings for any other woman in the world other than Ladybug. He just wanted to be part of her life where no super hero suits or masks were necessary.  

Perhaps it was her. Perhaps she was to blame for shutting him outside of her world. She always referred her Ladybug’s persona to be that of a fearless Cinderella who was accompanied by her cat escort on dangerous dueling dances. But once the magical clock rang five times, she would escape the arms of her partner and turn back into the ugly pumpkin she referred herself to be. And because of this, she put up walls separated her hero life from her personal one. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Chat. He was second boy she found enjoyable to be around—after Adrien of course. It was the fact that she was afraid that if he saw her true self, the magic in his admiration would soon fade away into nothingness.

_Therefore, this Cinderella never leaves behind a glass slipper let alone a crumb for him to find…_

A pitiful moan from his voice awoke Marinette from her thoughts and diverted her attention away from the Miraculous to its owner. She watched helplessly as the boy struggled to suck in air and wildly knocked away the pillows and paper parasol that rested behind him. As much as he annoyed her to death, she never wished anything like this to happen to him. She sat down on her wooden chaise and laid Chat on her lap, squeezing his hand as she fought back the tears. 

_Oh Chat, I’m so sorry._

He must have been limping around the city, struggling to comprehend which streets led back to his house. Marinette could only imagine the dangers he faced getting here. He must have had to dodge countless street thugs and feral strays that loitered the back alleys of Paris in search of trouble.

It sickened Marinette to believe that this city had betrayed one of her finest heroes. She knew Paris heavily relied on the duo. Heck, they even had political power to advise Mayor Bourgeois on making the right decisions and compromise with Chief John Barron on how to handle police situations. Thanks to best friend, Ayla, Chat and Ladybug shared a growing fan base that was half of Paris’s population, although it seemed that they loved Ladybug more than Chat Noir. But despite all that he had done to keep this city safe, no one had even thought of helping Chat in his time of need. 

_And so you came to the one person who wouldn’t ignore you, huh? Well Kitty, you got your wish… welcome to Ladybug’s humble abode._

Out of nowhere, his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. The sudden motion of his body startled Marinette that she nearly fell backwards, taking him with her. She quickly shot Tikki a “ _Find a hiding spot quick_ ” look and watched as the red Kwami panicked over her options of finding a place to hide. Ultimately she ended up plopping herself down on the corner desk and played stuffed toy. Chat moaned, causing Marinette to look back down at the cat lying in her lap as he opened his green eyes and stared up at her. 

“M-My Lady?” Chat Noir violently coughed. 

_My Lady…what you call Ladybug. Currently she’s not here…_

Marinette gave a sad smile and stroked his soaked hair. “I-I’m sorry,” she lied with a nervous laugh, the feeling of guilt slowly eating at her, “you have the wrong girl. I’m Marinette. Nice to meet you, Mr. Chat.”  

Chat blinked slowly, his eyes registering her features. “O-Oh…my bad,” he said softly, “Forgive me, Mademoiselle but would you be so kind as to tell me where am I? This certainly is not my house.” 

“You’re in my room. You kinda fell on me when you tumbled through the window.” 

The girl could only watch in amusement as Chat’s green eyes widened and a deep red blush powdered his cheeks. It was so “un-Chat Noir” of him to get so embarrassed over barging into a girl’s room and falling on top of her in the process. He didn’t hesitate on barging in on Chloe’s room when Lady Wi-Fi held the spoiled brat hostage. Then again, Chloe was just one of Ladybug’s diehard fans who had a love cosplaying the heroine in secret… well not so secret anymore since all of Paris knows thanks to Ayla. 

“I’m so sorry,” the boy pleaded, covering his eyes with the back of his hand, “I-I thought-”

“You thought that it was Ladybug’s room?” 

Mari let out a small giggle as an even more flustered Chat Noir glared up at her. “N-N-No… I-I would never do such a thing to my Lady! I love her but I’d never invade her privacy!” he protested, biting his cracked lips. 

_You just did, dumbass…_

“I-I thought this was my room. I’m sorry. I’ll just take my-ugggggghhhhh!” 

Chat tried to sit up, but pain seared throughout his body, forcing him to collapse in her arms. The smile fell from her lips as Marinette gently laid him back down on her lap. “Sorry,” she said kindly, “As much you want to run around and act like a cat; you’re no condition to fight let alone move.” 

It took some strength, but she managed to get up from underneath him and laid him back down onto her cushy chaise.  She knew that if he tried to sit up, his wounds would open up and start to bleed. Knowing how active Chat was, she had to hurry to the bathroom and find the family’s first aid kit quickly. The sooner she could patch him up, the sooner she could get him on his way before he realized who she really was or even her parents finding out that she had a guest in her room.

“Marinette! Can you come down here for a minute?” 

_Oh terrific…_

“Coming papa!” she yelled. She stood up and glanced down at her guest. 

“Please stay here and don’t get up or touch anything. I’ll be back in a few minutes with a first aid kit.” 

She quickly darted out the door, and slammed it shut. Monday the 13th sucked! Having allowed Chat Noir into her personal life, she was certain that it was only a matter of time before the secret was let out. She could only pray that Tikki, who was left in the room with Chat, would not show herself to him.

“You called for me papa?” 

She watched as her father helped her mother off the couch and handed her the crutches. Together, they made their way towards her, their smiling expressions making Marinette uncertain on whether or not they knew that they had a guest upstairs. 

“How is your studying going, sweetie?” Sabine asked, slowly reaching out for her hand. 

“Great mom,” her daughter replied with a nervous laugh as she grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently, “I’m just studying… for the geography quiz tomorrow. Gotta crunch in all those nations in, right?” 

“I know that you’ve been working hard,” Tom said, patting her shoulder comfortingly, “And you’ve been pushing yourself to your limits. But I don’t want you to strain yourself.” 

He walked over to the kitchen counter and picked up a silver platter lined with freshly baked cookies, macaroons, eclairs, strawberry frosted cupcakes and a Chinese tea pot that had been in the family for generations, filled with warm lemon and strawberry herbal tea. 

“Nothing beats relieving stress than tea and cookies,” he chuckled, handing the platter over to her, “I hope that this makes the last hours of this day better for you, my little eclair.”  

“I hope you know that no matter what you set your heart to, we will always be here for you. We are so lucky to be blessed have a child like you, Marinette,” her mother cooed as she brushed her hand against her daughter’s cheeks.

Marinette smiled as she inhaled the fresh aroma of the pastries and tea. 

“Thank you, Papa. Thank you, Mama.” 

Her parents pulled her into a hug, letting the warmth of their love for her consume her. She knew that she had to make them proud and did not want to disappoint them, especially with her recital coming up soon.

**_~*Creak*~_ **

The moans of the old floorboards upstairs violently yanked her from the touching moment as she gazed up to the second floor.  She felt her heart bounce against her stomach as her blue eyes met with wild green ones that peered enviously down at her and her parents.   

_That dumb cat!!!_

Mari should have made her voice more assertive when she ordered him to stay put. However, he probably wouldn’t have listened to anyone other than Ladybug. Obviously he didn’t take her seriously and got out of the room to look for her. Gritting her teeth, she gestured him to get back into the bedroom before her parents saw. 

“What was that?” her mother asked, looking up at the stairs as Chat darted away from view. 

“N-N-Nothing!” Marinette stuttered nervously, “It’s probably the temperature. You know how the apartment tends to make noise when it gets cooler, right? Anyways, I got to get back to crunching those nations. Thanks for the snacks, papa.” 

Marinette dashed up the stairs, hoping that her father did not opt in following her up to investigate the source of the noise. She had hoped that he took her comment seriously and would return to the couch with her mom to continue watching their favorite sitcom. Quickly surveying the landing, she had to make sure Chat didn’t bleed all over the floor. Luckily for her, he didn’t leave a single drop of blood. 

She lunged for her bedroom door and slammed the door. She let out a sigh of relief and slid down to the floor again, her heart still pounding in her ears as she tried to collect herself. She stood back up and exchanged annoyed glances with her catty guest as he waited for her to help him back onto his temporary cot. Marinette rolled her eyes and marched over to him, setting the silver platter on the mini table next to the chaise.

“Why didn’t you listen to me?” she yelled, tightly bracing his shoulders as she helped him back onto her chaise, “I told you to stay put; not get up and take a tour the upstairs of my apartment!” 

“Excuse me,” he shot back, turning his nose up as he cushioned his head with his good arm, “But you were taking forever! I thought that you got lost in your own house!”

“How is it possible to get lost in a building you grew up in? Besides, you heard my parents calling for me!” 

“Again you were taking forever. I just thought I’d save you the trouble by looking for it myself.” 

“And bleed all over our hallway? You opened your wounds again! If my parents found your blood on the floor, they would have thought a murder occurred in our apartment!” 

“Hey I was careful, see?”  

His hostess groaned in frustration. She grabbed three fudge macaroons and shoved them into his mouth to shut him up.  Once again, Chat was being completely impossible. Marinette swore he was egging her to reveal that she was his Lady.  She was definitely channeling the annoyed expression Ladybug had when the stupid boy wouldn’t listen. She wanted him to stay put in concernment for his wounds which he careless opened when he got up and walked out of her wounds. She could already see small streams of blood pouring down his chest and arms and soaking into his leather costume. 

Another beep caused them to break their glares and look down at his ring as the second to last print blinked out. Knowing that his transformation would be coming to an end soon, she glanced around the room for a piece of cloth stop the blood from dripping onto her furniture. Her eyes fell on the discarded pink patchwork dress with Chloe’s ugly signature of a yellow blot. She stood up and held the dress, debating whether or not she should attempt to sacrifice the handmade dress she worked so hard in making. Just one glance at Chat’s sorry state finalized her decision as she began tearing the dress apart. 

“W-What are you doing,” Chat stammered, his voice lined with bewilderment and shock as he watched in horror at the beautiful dress’s shredded demise.

“It’s a sacrifice of one of my works, but I’m just making some makeshift bandages so stop the bleeding,” the girl sighed, trying hard not to burst into tears as all of her hard work went down the drain. 

“B-But you must have put a lot of time into it. Surely it must have meant something to you.” 

“It did. But I got careless today and spilled paint on it. I tried removing it with soap and warm water but it set in so washing it in a washing machine or getting it dry cleaned is out of the question. Besides, it was something I came up with on the fly. It’s not even my best work.”

She avoided his gaze as she wrapped several of the shreds on his arm and the rest balled up for him to hold against his chest. It was better that he did not know the truth about the stain. While it was really Chloe’s fault, she felt that she shouldn’t complain about it to Paris’s feline hero. But she knew that he could see right through her lie. 

Not wanting to hear him pry the truth out of her, Marinette got up and poured a cup of tea for him to drink. She could tell that he was exhausted from his adventure outside her room, so perhaps a soothing cup of Strawberry and Lemon tea would help him calm his feline nerves. She propped him up on some soft pillows and held the cup to his lips as he slowly downed the drink. 

Without warning, she raised her hand and ran it through his messy blond hair. He gave her a puzzling gaze that made Marinette halt her actions. Seriously, everything he did was making her act like Ladybug. All the antics he pulled, all the sass he said, all the stress he made her feel with him being here in her room, all of what he did made her worry that she wouldn’t be able to keep the walls that separated her two lives from crumbling down. She couldn’t take it anymore! She had to get him out!

“Try applying pressure to those areas. It should the bleeding,” she said quickly, looking back at him as she headed for the door, “And no getting up, again. I’m not going to bail you out again if my parents catch you and I don’t want any blood on my furniture. Anyways, I’m going to go find that first aid kit now. Feel free to eat the rest of the snacks my dad made me.”

Closing the door behind her, she could hear the final beep of his ring go off as green glow flash lit her heels from underneath the door. She could have stayed to see who her partner was. Yet, she shrugged off the temptation as she remembered that time he resisted barging in when her transformation timed out. Giving a small smile, she began whistling as she strolled off to the bathroom in search of that first aid kit. 


	2. A glimpse into an imperfect life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien gets a taste of what its like to live in an imperfect world full of mishaps, home cooked meals, and sleeping in a small room. Yet he nearly lose it when he tries to pull a stunt on Marinette as she tends to him. Meanwhile Plagg becomes concerned over Adrien's wounds but notices an odd doll that looks strangely like the one who once held ownership of his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to make there be Plagg and Tikki moments in this one as we have yet to see them meet when Adrien and Marinette aren't looking. Enjoy!

Adrien could only watch quietly as the door clicked shut. It surprised him that she didn’t bother of looking back to watch him de-transform. A large majority of Paris’s teenage girls would kill just to find out who the suave Cat Noir was. It annoyed him whenever Ayla chased him around to find out his identity. It even annoyed him more when Chloe tried hitting on him in his hero persona after he saved her from yesterday’s Akuma. Just the thought made him seriously want to throw up.

_“Ugggggghhhh!”_

He slightly lifted his head from the pillow to see his black cat-shaped kwami roll around agony on his stomach. As much as Plagg was a major whiner and usually feigned weakness to get his partner to feed him, the boy was certain that the damage Chat Noir took while protecting Ladybug was also taking its toll on him. In a way, they did share the same body when they transformed as Adrien had to channel Plagg’s essence to become Chat Noir. And the little cat’s mischievous attitude channeled positive vibes into Chat as he felt more freedom to express himself without any expectations. So it would only be natural that he shared his pain with his partner.

“You okay?” he asked weakly. Plagg shot him a " _What do you think, dumbass”_ expression.

“Well my head hurts, and then my butt hurts… pretty much everything hurts. If I were to sum it up in poetic terms, it feels like someone stuck a bunch of pins in me and called me a pin cushion,” the Kwami groaned, combing back the cowlick on his head as he sat up, “Got any cheese?”

The boy shook his head and looked upward at the high pink celling above them. “You ate the last one when we stopped off at the Notre Dame Cathedral. But here, have one of Marinette’s macaroons. They aren’t cheese flavored but they are delicious.”

He didn’t have to repeat himself as the Kwami dive bombed into the pile of pastries and noisily stuffed two vanilla macaroons into his mouth. Adrien helped himself to a pistachio one and savored the flavor. As he swallowed, his eyes fell on an orange and red ticket that fell out of Marinette’s pajama pant pocket onto the chaise when she left the room. He ignored Marinette’ warning about opening up his wounds and reached down for the ticket. He cringed at the burning sensation in his aching body but he managed to grasp the thick colorful paper. Grunting, he rolled onto his back again and breathed steadily as he waited for the pain to dull.

_I probably shouldn’t question the phrase, “Curiosity killed the Cat…or almost killed him…” Ah… it hurts!_

Regaining his strength, he lifted the ticket up to eye level, reading the words: “ _Zaohua Dance Company performing live @ théâtre du Palais Garnier, le 17 Octobre_ ” stamped in gold bold letters. It was a complementary ticket to the Zaohua Performance!

“Isn’t that the extremely popular performance you really want to go to this weekend but it got sold out?” Plagg asked, exhibiting snake-like behavior by swallowing a cupcake whole.

Adrien silently nodded as he let out a deadpan sigh. Earlier during lunch, Ayla ran over to him and Nino to ask his friend if Marinette gave him a complementary ticket. He remembered how the topic of that colorful piece of paper made the conversation become oh so lively as the two chatted away about how cool it was for Marinette to have a solo part in the performance. He was a tad bit jealous of them as he always wanted to see the performance since he was little. But every year, the performance would be sold out within hours. It was highly rated one of the best dance performances in Paris and many celebrities from around the world gathered at the theatre. The only best bet of getting in was if you knew one of the performers.

He recalled Marinette trying to ask him something right before seventh period started and secretly had hoped it had something to do with the ticket. Yet before she could gather her words together, Chloe strolled up to them and stole Adrien away, stating that he shouldn’t hang out with losers like Marinette. Looking back, Adrien could see the defeated expression hang on Marinette’s face as she headed in the opposite direction…alone.  

“Well now that you found the performance ticket, I guess you can go now,” Plagg said, breaking the boy’s train of thoughts.

“Are you kidding me, Plagg? That’s called stealing. I’ve already been close to getting sent to the slammer twice, one of them no thanks to you!” the blonde hissed, shivering at memories of Copy Cat and Chloe’s stupid bracelet, “Besides, she’s probably planning on giving it to a guy she likes.”

“Your fault for missing out, kid. By the way, great choice on which window you should fall through. This chick has such a nice place. Very cozy and you don’t even need a guide map to get around the bedroom. Not to mention, we get free food from such a cute girl.”

Adrien blushed hard. Did he really have a choice of accidentally barging into Marinette’s room? He was leaping over several roof tops, severely bleeding and was losing consciousness. He could have called for a limo, but then daddy dearest would kill him for getting injured and soiling his clothes. Not to mention, he didn’t want poor Natalie worrying for him, she already had to deal with all the crap his father dumped on her. Home was the last place he wanted to be anyways.  

While he wasn’t too thrilled that it wasn’t his beloved Ladybug’s room that he stumbled into, Adrien was just as equally embarrassed about barging into the bedroom belonging to the one girl in his class who couldn’t even look him in the eye. To make matters worse, she was still in the room when he came crashing down on her. Just from the sight of the discarded aluminum bat that glared at him from underneath her desk, he could tell that she heard him on the roof and thought that he was burglar. She must have been scared out of her wits! Adrien could only be thankful for Marinette’s gentle heart as she did not see him as a perverted peeping tom and tended to him instead.

_Marinette…_

Despite the fact that it was Adrien Agreste who had the ideal image of a “perfect life,” he envied the baker’s daughter who sat behind him in class. Unlike him, Marinette wasn’t brought up in a high society. She didn’t have to worry about reputations, high expectations, or money. She didn’t have pearly white limos drive her everywhere and instead she got blisters just by walking with her friends. Her home wasn’t as large mansion that sat next to the Eiffel Tower. Instead, it was a small apartment above her family owned bakery that housed a circular dinner table with four wooden chairs that sat close together rather than at approximately three feet apart.  

Yet, what made him really envious of her was her parents. Unlike his father, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng did not demand Marinette to be number one at everything. They didn’t care that she fell asleep during classes, or got bad grades on tests.  They didn’t show her off like a blue ribbon show dog or control her daily schedule. They doted her, supported her and could count on her.  They were there for her personally and loved her for who she was. Just listening to them tell her how blessed they were to have her as their child… those words were the words he yearned for his own father to say to him.

_Marinette’s the luckiest girl and she knows it. Her parents raised her with all the love in the world, no in the universe and in return, she gives that love back to them. Just seeing the way she gave a supporting gaze to her ailing mother. It brings me pain to know I wasn’t there when Mrs. Dupain-Cheng got hurt but knowing that Marinette is there for her, it brings me ease. I wish dad could know that I’m there for him, that I want to help him. But instead, there’s a giant wall between us…_

He bit his lip, struggling to keep it together as tears fell from his eyes. He couldn’t understand why his father treated him like a business partner rather than his own son. It hurt him so much when his father failed to show up to Bring-Your-Parent-To-School day. He could only watch sadly as each of his classmates brought up their mother or father, smiles lighting their faces as they explained the profession of their parent. If he hadn’t left to help Plagg get that damn bracelet off of his head, he would have stayed and would have eaten one of the croissants Marinette’s father made, despite the fact that they had a little bit of floor dirt.  

Suddenly, he could feel something damp against his fingertips. He frowned and lifted his head again to see the remnants of Marinette’s once handmade dress that were now soiled with blood in his fist. He recalled how she made heads turn when she first walked into the room. Throughout the day, he was hesitating on whether or not he should go up to her and complement her as he didn’t want to spook her like he normally did. He should have made up his mind sooner as when art class rolled around, Chloe decided to add her own additional touches to Marinette’s dress by dumping yellow paint on it.

_“Oops, my bad! Oh dear now it looks completely terrible.”_

Adrien knew Chloe didn’t mean it when she “apologized.” Her so called sympathetic words sounded like nails scraping against a chalk board and the wicked smirk on her face indicated she wanted to rub salt into the wounds.  He couldn’t understand why she always picked on Marinette. She never done anything to hurt her and yet, the poor girl was always the object of Chloe’s wrath. It baffled Adrien when Marinette just brushed it off with one of her smiles and quickly excused herself as she rushed out of the room with Ayla and Nino following soon after. But while it was a sweet and kind smile, he knew that her grin was unusual as it was only masking built up emotions of pain, sadness and stress. He could only curse himself that he just stood there and allow Chloe to torment Marinette for the benefit of her big ego. He should have gone after Marinette too or at least called out Chloe for her actions. She didn’t even return to class after the incident, causing Adrien to worry that it affected her more than she let on. And just like that, she was lying to Chat Noir by simply stating that the dress meant nothing to her and had ripped it to shreds without a second thought.

Adrien groaned. He was hurting both mentally and physically. It seemed that within in each passing hour, his day got worse and worse. First Ladybug snapped at him, then he gets scratched up by an insane Akuma, and now he was stuck at the apartment of the girl he failed to help out. He figured that if he were gain more strength to move, he should just try to rest his tired eyes for a few minutes. With one last sigh, he dozed off.

Plagg stared at his human partner. Sure the kid was a pain to be around and was head over heels in love with Ladybug (Plagg had to listen to him go on and on about how Ladybug was wonderful and was Adrien’s soulmate. Ugh.)  He could only stand the idiot’s constant babbling about the girl only if he had Camembert cheese in stock. But he had to admit that over the last thousand years he had been around, this brat named Adrien was probably his favorite partner. Unlike his previous partners, the boy acknowledged him as a friend and partner rather than some tool to transform or a pet. He’d never tell him that to his face though.

After eating all those sweets, just the sight of the kid looking depressed over what had happened today left a bad taste in his mouth. Today’s Akuma attack was a disaster as Chat Noir wasn’t at the top of his game when facing off against Marie Antoinvendetta. Upon arrival, Plagg could only listen sadly as Adrien’s flirty comments were rebuffed by Ladybug’s sour tone. Apparently she was having a bad day too. And to make matters worse, it went downhill from there as Marie put the pressure on, forcing the Lucky duo to constantly use their powers. Throughout his session of tag teams and breaks in between battles with his Ladybug, Plagg could tell that Adrien was extremely agitated and seriously distracted and nagged at him to eat quickly so they could get back into the battle.  

Chat Noir was usually a menace to any Akuma with a weapon partially thanks to Adrien’s skills at fencing. The bad luck hero could parry any attack with one hand and be able to gain the upper hand within rapid time. His feline movements lived up to his name as his eyes were always focused on the prey and not once did he leave himself open for an attack. Yet this time, Chat Noir was seriously out of sync as he was thrown around at least five times by Marie’s diamond beasts and severely injured by the crazed queen’s rapiers. Plagg could only secretly thank Ladybug from inside the ring for coming in at the last second to stop Marie before Adrien ran out of the kwami’s favorite cheese.

But somewhere deep inside him though, Plagg could feel a pinch of guilt. The suits provided for Chat Noir and Ladybug weren’t like those hulking armored ones with decked out laser guns mounted on the shoulder like the ones that he and Adrien saw when they watched movies together. Chat Noir’s suit was made out of a mixture of Kevlar material and the strongest leather around which allowed him to move more freely. Ladybug’s was a little less protective as hers looked spandex-like yet still provided the same freedom of movement. But it sometimes worried Plagg as out of the past Chat Noirs he worked with, Adrien was the youngest, just a kid fighting a hoard of mad driven people controlled by a jerk who didn’t bother of facing them himself. And to top that off with a cherry, Adrien was a kid that needed to be handled delicately as possible as his free-spirited hero persona clashed with a life that was chained down with expectations and attaining an image of perfection.  

Licking the crumbs off his whiskers, the Kwami decided he should let the kid rest as he deserved every second of it, even if it was for a few minutes. From the looks of things, Adrien looked like he wouldn’t be able to follow his schedule normally for the next few days. Plagg decided that he would go easy on the poor boy for the next several days as he had been through a lot and still had to face his father’s wrath when he returned home. For starters, the kwami figured that he should keep an eye out on the door as that girl could return within any moment and find someone other than Chat Noir sleeping on her furniture.

He floated around the room a bit, wanting to explore every nook and cranny of the place. It was much smaller than Adrien’s room and didn’t have all the bright lights and distractions that made a kid forget that he was a prisoner within his own home. In fact it actually felt like a bedroom that was ideal for a girl like Marinette. It was pink, of course, and had an oriental flare which brought nostalgia to Plagg as he remembered the Ladybug and Chat Noir of the Tang Dynasty. The room came with fancy looking steps that led up to a bed on the second floor of the room, a chaise that was currently occupied and a corner desk with an-

His eyes fell on a stuffed toy that looked to be out of place among all the knickknacks scattered on the desk. He dropped his pistachio macaroon and hovered over to the desk, his little heart beats pounding in his cat ears. The toy looked like the one person that he had given his heart to eons ago. The red and black cloth reminded him of color of poppies blowing in the meadow, its antennae bounced in the evening wind, and that smile that seemed to make the blue voids in the eyes sparkle. Just staring at it made him yearn for her like how Adrien yearned for Ladybug. How long had it been since he saw her? A year? A decade? A millennium?

“Oh Tikki…” he whispered.

“Hello Plagg.”

He swore his ears and eyes were playing tricks on him. Did this toy just speak his name? A hand that reached out to dry the small streams of tears that fell down his tiny cheeks answered his question. His heart raced as she cocked her head and let out a feathery laugh.

“Tikki!” he cried.

“Shhhhhhhh!!!!!!!” Tikki hissed, pressing her hand to his mouth. They looked over at the sleeping boy as he moaned and shifted a little. The red kwami gestured up to the rafters of the room where they would be able to speak quietly and out of Adrien’s earshot. Hand in hand, they flew up to a small window that glowed with Paris’s night lights.

Feeling all the negative energy flow out of him, Plagg scooped up Tikki and twirled her around. Tikki let out a slightly louder giggle as she held him tightly. It felt like it was an eternity since they last saw each other.

“Your breath smells like sugar and Camembert,” Tikki wheezed in amusement, “Of course, I’d recognize that gluttonous behavior anywhere. But are you okay? You’re covered in scratches!”

“I’m fine!” he laughed, holding her close.

“Yes but, I’ve never seen so scratched up before!”

For once, Plagg was at a loss for words. Throughout the years, the little black Kwami could feel a pang of jealous bubbling up inside as he gazed enviously as his previous partners could physically be with the one that they loved. He on the other hand, could only sit in the ring and gaze longingly at the earring that housed the love of his life. How he wished he could yell or scream to let her know that he was right next to her. And there were rare occasions of when they met, but most of them only lasted for a brief moment as their partners’ took their leave. But now here she was, right in front of him.

“How is it—I mean—How are you—Why are you here?” he stammered.

“Ah Silly Plagg,” Tikki sighed, seeing that he was still the dense kwami she loved, “Isn’t it obvious?”

Looking down at Adrien, it all became clear to him of who the mysterious Ladybug was.

“That wallflower that sits behind the brat in class? The one that stares at the back of his head with those goo goo eyes of hers? The one that he fell on an hour ago? She’s Ladybug?!”

Tikki nodded. It took all of Plagg’s strength not to burst out laughing at the irony of their respective partner’s love life. Adrien who was Chat Noir loved Ladybug. Ladybug who was Marinette love Adrien. The pointless lovers’ chase around Paris search of the other when clearly they were right in front of them. In poetic terms, Adrien’s dopey love triangle between him, Ladybug and whoever she was pining for was actually a love line that traveled between two stations, his and Marinette’s. It was only fitting as during the daytime, Marinette chased him while at night he chased her.

“My god,” he snickered, “Humans are so stupid.”

“You got that right. I was so shocked when Chat Noir transformed back into Adrien, I nearly blew my cover and wanted to hug you. So…should we tell them?”

Plagg shook his head. “Nah, they’re big kids anyways. They’ll figure it out themselves. Besides, why ruin the surprise for them when we can get a kick out of watching their reactions? Ah, it will be glorious!”

Tikki snorted in agreement and stared at the waning moon that hung lazily in the sky. Man, despite everything, today became totally amazing. But Plagg couldn’t wait till that day came. It would only be a matter of time until he was able to see Adrien’s face when he would find out that his Lady actually sat behind him in class.

Suddenly, they could hear a door creak echo outside in the hallways.  They exchanged startled glances and flew down as loud footsteps echoed closer.

“Oh no, Mari found the first aid kit already,” Tikki whispered, floating back and forth nervously. She was about to fly back to her spot on the desk when Plagg reached out and grabbed her hand.

“W-Will I see you again?” he asked, his green eyes filled with uncertainty.

His love turned and smiled back at him. “Silly Plagg, don’t we always see each other every day?”

He hated to admit it, but she was right. They were together ever time Ladybug and Chat Noir met up. But it had been decades since the last time they spoke. Still he had hoped that it would have taken longer for Marinette to find that first aid kit as it would have given them more time to talk. Still tomorrow was a new day. If they had a chance, perhaps they could sneak out of their partners’ bags during math class and meet up to sample some of the cafeteria’s daily cheese and deserts.

“See you in the morning, my goddess,” he whispered, kissing her cheek.

“Dear god, you’re worse than your partner…” Tikki giggled as a pink blush lit against her red skin.  

And with that, the red kwami sat back down and retained her imitation of a stuffed toy. Plagg sighed and hovered over to Adrien. He figured that since he ate more than usual, he could provide enough energy so that the boy could remain as Chat Noir for the whole night.

“Adrien! Adrien! For Pete’s sake, get up!” he hissed as he tugged on a lock of his blond hair. For once, he was actually trying to do his job without any nagging or bribery. However, his efforts were in vain as Adrien scrunched up his sleeping face and lazily swatted at him.

“Five more minutes, mom,” he yawned, turning over and nearly squishing the kwami.

“I’m not your mom, moron. And BTW, you don’t have five minutes. Marinette is outside.”

But still, the boy wouldn’t budge. Realizing that Adrien was still weak from his wounds, Plagg knew that the only other way he could get the boy to transform was that if he triggered the transformation by force. Kicking the ring with his tiny foot, the silver metal that wrapped around Adrien’s finger turned black and sucked Plagg into the void. Within seconds, Adrien Agreste had vanished from reality and in his place laid an unconscious Chat Noir.  

“Can I come in?”

From the darkness of his eyelids, Chat could hear the door creak open, shut and lock. Using his cat senses, he could smell her scent fill the air along with several other odors including peroxide, gauze, two month old cotton balls and… was that Chinese Food? The idea kind of made his stomach turn and his heart flutter at the same time.

The sudden warmth of Marinette’s hand against his cheek caused opened his wild green eyes as he gazed up into her aquamarine ones.  He watched her as she knelt down and set a large red square shaped bag on a stool beside her. She must have been carrying a lot of stuff as she had been balancing the bag along with a bowl of food that she got from downstairs.  

“Did I wake you?” she asked, gently placing the bowl of her mother’s home cooked meal into his hands, “I brought up a bowl of my mama’s famous Kung Pow Chicken for you to eat. I figured that you haven’t had any dinner yet and obviously you can’t have sweets for dinner.”

He stared at the bowl. There was nothing special about the meal.  Just a simple dish filled with chunks of chicken, rice and broccoli drenched in homemade soy sauce and sesame seeds. Adrien had seen far more extravagant versions of this dish before. He never understood how food could change a person’s mood on a dime or how it could bring people closer together. Food was food. You eat it and it replenishes your energy. What was so great about it? Yet Chat swatted the away the negative thoughts on this simple dish and scolded himself. Here was Marinette offering him her family’s dinner to him and he was acting all high and mighty. He might as well eat it as all the chefs back at his houses had already left. Besides it would be rude of him to decline a meal.

Taking a spoon full of the dish into his mouth, his green eyes widened as his taste buds were singing like heaven’s chorus. The meal… it was nothing he had ever tasted before. All those extravagant dishes that his chefs made for him could not compare to Mrs. Dupain-Cheng’s cooking. He couldn’t explain it but he could feel all the love that Marinette’s mother put into this dish. He envisioned that every dinner at the Dupain-Cheng’s residence was seemed to be magical. He could picture Marinette’s mother humming a tune over the sound of the breaded chicken and broccoli sizzling in the soy sauce as she waited for her daughter to come home. Her husband, Mr. Dupain-Cheng would have heard her and caught her off guard as he kissed her head and whispered to her how beautiful she was. They would hear the door click and Marinette’s voice would alert them that she was home. Mr. Dupain-Cheng would greet his daughter and lead her in a jovial waltz around the dinner table. His wife would chuckle at the sight and shake her head as she poured the dinner into a serving dish and set it on the table.  

_Marinette is so lucky to come home to this meal. Dad doesn’t even eat with me, let alone make any dishes._

“I’m guessing you’ve never tasted Kung Pow chicken, Mr. Chat?” Marinette giggled as she listened to the purrs that rose from his throat. He relished each bite as if this meal would be his very last meal on Earth.

“I have had this dish many times before,” he replied sadly as he gently placed the fork on the porcelain plate, “it’s just that I never had a home cooked dinner before. All my meals were prepared by world renowned chefs instead of my father.”

Marinette stared at him, her eyes glimmering with a mixture of curiosity and sadness as if she found out something about Chat’s personal life that only she knew. Chat could only hope that she wouldn’t share this information with Ayla as he knew she and Marinette were best friends. Ayla had occasionally pestered Chat and Ladybug to get information out of them so she could put it up on her Ladyblog. But judging on Marinette’s honesty, she would probably keep this encounter with Chat a secret as she didn’t want her parents finding out.

“If you love it that much, I can give you some to take home,” she said with a smile, “I’ll just wait till my parents go to sleep to get you extras.”

Marinette sat down on the floor next to chaise and opened up the first aid kit. Contents spilled over the floor as she dug into the bag for gauze, bandages, peroxide, cotton balls, medical cream and pain relievers. She placed the contents beside the silver tray that now was half barren of all of its pastries.

She got up and placed one hand gently on Chat’s shoulder and the other slid underneath his back. Chat hissed in agony as she helped him sit up.

“Sorry,” she squeaked, frightened that she might have opened up a wound again.

“N-No,” he replied, his better hand grasping her arm tightly as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the chaise, “Thank you, Madam.”

Without hesitation, Chat unzipped his suit, allowing the leather material to fall to his waist and reveal his athletic frame. He couldn’t help but let a Cheshire grin smear his lips as the girl yelped and turned away. God, his fan girls would have gone nuts over seeing him bare-chested. Ladybug though would be the only one who got to view his bare chest when she tended to his wounds. She usually threatened him to leave him bleeding each time he did that though. Chat couldn’t resist relished the sight of innocent Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s reaction. He lapped up the sight of her trying to hold her breath as the blood rushed to her cheeks. He found her quivering lip, and embarrassed expression way too adorable. He just had to give into the temptation of teasing her like he did with Ladybug.

“Like what you see, Miss Marinette?” he purred seductively into her ear, “You didn’t have any issues undoing the zipper earlier. So what’s the deal now, my precious timid kitten, hmm?”

He would have gotten a kick out of her reaction, but the moment he saw her expression, his smirk fell. She glared up at him with her big blue eyes, her lips pursed together in an annoyed pout, and her eyebrows knitted together. She dug her fists into her knees until the skin turned pure white as she restrained herself from punching him in the face. This new side of her made him realize that he went overboard with his flirting abilities and he was seriously regretting on what just happened.

“S-Sorry… I didn’t mean to leave you feeling vulnerable,” he said quickly, scratching the back of his head, “I have a tendency to let my mouth run, heh. And when it runs, it runs wild. Get it? Running wild.”

“No, I don’t,” Marinette answered in a low tone. Obviously puns didn’t work on her either.

_Why does this scenario feel familiar?_

Chat couldn’t put a finger on it. Normally, he would save his teasing for Ladybug. No other woman could make him speak like that other than her. But one look at Marinette’s blushing face made him have the urge to say those words without any awkwardness or hesitation. And the way she responded with an annoyed gaze upon his prank, it was almost parallel to how his Lady would have answered to his deception… only Ladybug would have followed through with smacking him in the face. He decided to stop messing with her as he didn’t want to get thrown out after all the trouble she went through to care for him.

Adrien knew that as Chat Noir, had a wild and untamed personality, an ego that bounced all over the place and one that most people couldn’t handle. And given the fact that Marinette had just given Chat a glimpse, a breath, a sampling taste of what it was to live in her imperfect world, he wanted to savor it just a little longer.

_Just a little longer… please? Please Marinette? Please let me stay here just a little longer._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I often held a belief that should Tikki or Plagg find themselves in a situation where Marinette or Adrien become unconscious out in the open, they had the power to actually trigger a forceful transformation as a last ditch effort.


	3. Let your tears fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat grows more and more curious about his mysterious peer. Yet when Marinette reaches her breaking point, Plagg reminds Chat about Hawkmoth's thirst for negative energy. And despite all, Chat cannot shy away from a damsel in distress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter and I hope you've enjoyed this story. I do plan on writing the dance recital fanfic. However, that one may not come out for quite sometime as I am in the last few weeks of finishing up school and graduating (*gasp*). Plus I am working on another fanfiction with MariChat, Cheesecake and DJWiFi. And heres to the final chapter. Enjoy and thank you so much for the wonderful support!

Chat winced as she pulled the impromptu blood soaked bandages from his wounds; loose silk threads sticking to him here and there by the dry blood. God, it was painful. It was even worse when she dabbed his arm gashes with that peroxide liquid covered cotton balls. Chat sighed in relief as she threw the plastic bag that were once filled with cotton balls into her pink wired trash can and began wrapping bandages over his arm. Was torture over? Could he go back to lying down on the cushy chaise he spent most of his stay on? His answer came in the form of his host pulling out a second bag filled with untouched white cotton balls. He let a whine that earned him an arched eyebrow from the girl as she tore the bag open and poured a small amount of medical alcohol on a cotton ball. He hissed and sank his claws into the painted wood of the chaise as he felt the stinging sensation shoot through his body. Considering that she was kind to him up to the point where he had hit on her, her nursing methods were as cruel as ever. Was this Marinette’s way of getting back at him for his surprise advance on her?

His green eyes fixed on her dainty fingers as she screwed the cap on the peroxide bottle closed. Her hands were small and worn out from her designing activities. Chat could see scratches on her finger tips from when she accidentally pricked herself with her sewing needles during one of her design sessions that Ayla described as Marinette’s daily hobbies. Adrien remembered he overheard Marinette explaining to Ayla how she was too careless to use thimbles and they would make her lose focus on her stitching. She must have had boxes of band aids stashed away somewhere in her corner desk. 

But it was then that Chat gazed up her arms and noticed the faded scars and bruises that decorated her peach colored skin. He knew that Marinette was an extreme klutz as she normally tripped on her own feet when heading to class. But these scars and bruises did not look like they were caused by her tripping over Chloe’s foot; they looked like those that one would receive when engaging in a fight. Chat’s green eyes shifted over to Marinette’s face. He knew that Marinette was more into art than sports so it was out of the question that she received these scars playing volleyball or soccer. She was a girl who preferred dancing over boxing or any other type of martial arts any day.  And she definitely did not look like the type of girl who was in a gang and would pick fights with rivals in back alleys and abandon buildings. Dear God, he hoped not. 

_Then what the hell is she doing to get all these bruises? Surely she isn’t out in some costume playing hero._

Raising his bandaged hand, he cupped her chin and lifted it until she was staring at him with her big blue eyes. It suddenly dawned on Chat that he had no idea who Marinette Dupain-Cheng was. All he knew was that she sat right behind him in class, was a rising fashion designer, was extremely sweet, generous, a bit shy, and not a morning person during school days. But those were things that Adrien only knew of her from Ayla and Nino. Other than that, she was a complete bumbling mystery to him. 

“Um… what are you doing?” she asked, giving him a confused look.

Chat blinked, suddenly realizing that he had once again put them in an awkward situation. He was so focused on figuring her out; he failed to realize he was leaning way too close to her lips. Their faces were only inches apart and he could smell the scent of the strawberry macaroons that she nibbled on while she was tending to his wounds. 

_Think fast, stupid. This might be strike three…_

“Uh… y-you got a bit of rice on your cheek,” Chat stuttered, picking off a small grain of rice that was stuck to her cheek. He quickly let go of her chin and looked away, trying to hide the blush that formed on his face. 

“Right…” she nodded, her voice was curt and she seriously wasn’t buying his excuse, “Thank you kindly, Mr. Chat.”

_Great save, Adrien… maybe she won’t dump the whole bottle of peroxide she's holding on your head._

“Thank you, Miss Marinette,” he said, feeling rather stupid as he zipped up his suit, “your kindness astonishes me.” 

His rather lame excuse for a comment on her hospitality surprised her and she gave him a goofy grin in return. For some strange reason, he grew to enjoy that silly smile she sported every day when he turned around to collect papers from her. In a way, it was like it was reserved only for him and no one else.  Unlike the other girls in his class, there were no notions of plotting, scheming, or wanting of something in return in her smile, just pure, genuine, and innocent. 

_I never realized it but I missed seeing that grin today… It suits her nicely._

“Marinette, can you come out for a minute.”

The voice of Marinette’s mother suddenly shattered the touching moment between them. Did she hear him talking to her? Were they going to throw him out? He remembered seeing how huge her dad was. He could only imagine that he was one of those fathers that were brutes to boys who fell for such a cute girl like his daughter and threatened to come after them if they made her cry. 

“U-u-uh give me three minutes mom!” Marinette yelled. 

“Okay, but bring out your scarf! Your grandmother wants us to send a video of you in your practicing your solo!” 

_That’s right. She’s part of the Zaohua Dance Company…_

Chat noticed the sudden return of Marinette’s nervousness as she reached down and slung his good arm over shoulder. She slowly helped him over to her wardrobe and set him down on the wooden drawers that contained spools of the fabrics from that super expensive fabric store down the street. 

“Can you hand me that bag that you are leaning on?” Marinette mouthed, pointing to the duffle bag he was leaning on. Nodding, he pushed duffle bag towards her, trying his best not to pull on the wounds and watched as she fished out an extremely long rainbow toned silk scarf. She swiftly slid the scarf bands onto her shoulders and quickly fixed her hair into a twin buns updo with little braids dangling from the sides.  She then wrapped the end of scarf up her arms and drape over her shoulders. Looking down at him, Marinette gave Chat a more stern expression as she put her finger to his lips as notion to him to keep quiet and not to move from his spot. Obviously, she didn’t want him to be blowing their cover as he nearly did earlier. She then closed the heavy wardrobe doors but left one of them ajar so he could have some light. 

Chat peered out from the ajar door and watched as Marinette greeted her parents. The pang of envy burned in his soul as he listened to her parents cooed and patted her head. Obviously they were excited about her performance and urged her to give them (and him) a little twenty five second preview of her solo. He could hear the hint of defeat in her sigh as she stepped back; contemplating on which part of her solo should she give. 

She pranced around the room and stopped in front of her parents, bowing to each side of her before spinning around, her scarf swirling around her like a colorful breeze. Chat couldn’t keep his eyes off of Marinette as he watched her toss the scarf off her shoulders. The way she danced in the encasing flow of colors left him breathless. It reminded him of one of those cranes he used to see as a child; how the bird would fly low so its reflection dancing over the sparkling waters and then rise up to meet the sun as the light glistened on its feathers. 

_Beautiful…God, she’s magnificent!_

“H-H-How was it?” he heard Marinette ask nervously. He could see the dissatisfaction in her eyes as she dropped her arms and dragged the scarf on the floor. What was wrong with her? She danced beautifully. He couldn’t understand why she wasn’t happy in her mini performance. 

“Lovely, sweetie,” Tom said, his giant hand literally took up her upper arm as he placed it on her shoulder.

“Yes it was,” Sabine nodded, “Yet sweetie, remember to spin the counter clockwise in the second phase of your routine. It makes the dance look more beautiful. And don’t drag your scarf on the floor, it will get dirty.” 

She cupped her daughter’s chin and gave her a doting gaze. “Just remember to smile, that’s all I want to see when you are up on stage,” she added, kissing her Marinette’s forehead, “Well, your father and I are going to bed. Don’t stay up too late, you’ve got school tomorrow. Good night, sweetie.” 

“Good night, mama, papa,” Marinette said in a barely auditable voice, “I-I-I’ll try to get it right next time…” 

She seemed to have had forgotten the cat she left in her wardrobe as she sauntered to the mirror that sat in the lonely corner. Chat watched her closely again, feeling his heart race as she began practicing her dance moves again. While he couldn’t go to her big performance, watching her practice was the next best thing…although, it would be less awkward if he wasn’t observing her from her closet.  

“Come on… I can do this… I can do this… just think, gracefulness and poise. Gracefulness and poise. You didn’t show them this part of the dance because you haven’t mastered it yet, Mari. Don’t fail… mom is counting on you to make it work…”

The tom-cat’s head shot up to the hint of stress in her voice. He watched the girl’s face scrunched up into a glare as she struggled with her scarf, her dance moves growing increasingly sloppy. It was obvious that she had only performed the easier parts of her solo to her parents. She didn’t want them to see the other parts. 

_**-*THUD*-** _

Marinette came crashing down to the floor as her foot got tangled in the scarf, causing her to slip and fall onto the hardwood floor. Chat could only feel Déjà vu occur right in front of him as once again he let her fall for the second time today. He realized why she was so hesitant on dancing in front of her parents. Despite the fact that she had lived a life with no expectations, plenty of love and support from family and friends, and a brilliant mind of creativity, he never counted on the fact that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was self-cautious of her own image and hated the fact that she wasn’t perfect. 

“Why… why can’t I do this? Why can’t I get this right? I have a week to get it right! I’ll let mom, dad and everyone down! I-I-I don’t know if I can do this!” she whispered to herself, her voice breaking into silent sobs. She slowly sat up and covered blue eyes as big drops of salty tears leaked through the spaces of her fingers. 

Not once. Not once did Adrien see Mariette shed tears before. Normally, she’d just brush it off with one of her smiles and continue what she was doing. He always admired her for being strong even in upsetting situations that could hurt her feelings. He could only wish that he was like her, being able to put up with the hardships in his own life. But seeing her like this, he could only imagine that she put up a defensive wall between her and her love ones. She didn’t want them to see her cry, to see her helpless in times of need. So she put on a smiling mask to hide the tears. Chat could only imagine that she only cried behind closed doors so no one would notice her.  

“Psssstt… hey Chat Noir,” Plagg’s voice echoed in his head, “not to burst your bubble, but we may a potential Akuma victim in front of us.” 

Chat’s heart sank at his comment. He could recall how Nino, Alix, Ayla, Officer Roger and Theo looked when they became Akumas. Their hearts would be filled to the brim with negative energy and they would forfeit their own minds to Hawkmoth, turning them into evil beings that caused wreaked havoc and held no remorse for their actions. Chat nearly wanted to claw Roger-Cop’s eyes out after allowed Ladybug to fall but restrained himself as Roger was still a human being and was Sabrina’s beloved father. 

It seemed to Adrien that each of the Akumas they faced was proven to be more difficult to defeat than the one before.  He recalled the very first time he transformed into Chat Noir and encountered his very first Akuma. 

_“An Akuma?”  
_

_“Yea kid. I said you need to fight Hawkmoth’s Akumas. It’s written in your destiny as Chat Noir.”  
_

_“And those are exactly…”  
_

_“Do I have to explain everything to you? Akumas are these ugly small creatures that look like your normal butterflies. They feed off of negative human emotions such as sadness and despair by attaching themselves to objects that a victim holds value to. Then poof! Hawkmoth takes over the victim’s mind and turns them into villains like the ones in your comic books. He promises them stuff that they want and in return, they have to do his bidding. Sorry to say this, but they’ll be gunning for you kid as Hawkmoth is a nut case. All he wants is the miraculous items like the one on your finger. And he’ll stop at nothing to get them.”_  

Chat didn’t even want to imagine what horrid creature Hawkmoth could create out by infecting Marinette. It was already bad enough that they had to deal with a tough one today, and he was in no shape to fight a second one. He flung open the closet doors and lunged at her, wanting to keep his nemesis from noticing the negative energy this sad girl was giving off. He tore her hands away from her tear stained face and pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly as his beasty eyes darted from one window to another in search of an ugly purple butterfly trying to get into the room. 

_Forgive me, Marinette. I couldn’t protect you as Adrien. I let Chloe have her way and just shrugged it off because I felt like it wasn’t my problem. But it’s now my problem as you’re crying your eyes out right in front of me and Hawkmoth is attracted to that like… well a moth. I won’t let him take you too. I’m not going to fail you a second time_. 

“W-What are you doing? Y-Your wounds! I told you not to move as they will open up again!” she wheezed as she choked on her tears. She squirmed in his arms but Chat Noir could only let out a gentle scoff as he put a finger to her lips. 

“Hush now. The walls have ears,” he whispered, wiping away the streams of tears on her face, “No flesh wound of mine brings me more pain than to see a gentlewoman as yourself fall into despair. It brings out the worst in people, you know.”

Normally, Chat Noir would leave the consoling part to Ladybug. He could handle big crowds of fans. However, he wasn’t great with speaking directly with people as he feared that his untamed ego would cause him to say or do something that would keep him up the rest of the night (he found that out the hard way with Theo.) Heck, he kept doing and saying stupid things to Marinette throughout the duration of his time at her home. There were many times he thought that she would get sick of him and throw him out. Yet she never did. And for that he was grateful.

“You must have had a rough day, Mademoiselle,” he said, rubbing her shoulder with a comforting claw, “I know it’s rude to pry but I’m all ears if you need someone to speak to. You know that therapy animals are all the rage today.”

He had only hoped that she didn’t take his kind gesture the wrong way like she did with the earlier one. For once, he was being serious when offering his assistance directly. He watched as she contemplated the idea for a moment before pressing her frame against his and nuzzling the side of her head into the crook of his neck, her nose lightly tapping his zipper bell. 

“My mom is part of the Zaohua Dance Company. She does dancing as a side hobby and she has ribbon solo in the performance… or at least she had one until last month,” Marinette muttered into his chest, letting the sound of his heartbeat calm her nerves, “She was practicing her solo and then one of those Akumas broke into the theatre and caused.” 

“I heard of that incident. My apologies for failing to be there in her time of need,” Chat muttered, cursing himself that Adrien found it more important on taking some stupid literature exam when Chat Noir could have helped Ladybug fend off Conductor that day, “so what you’re saying is you’re filling in as a stand in?”   

“I used to practice with her by acting as her reflection. I would copy her moves so she knows what she’s doing. So it was only fair that I would take her place since I have already memorized the moves. However, I’m not as graceful as her as I usually fall flat on my face as you saw earlier after I stuffed you into my closet. And because of that, my instructor, Monsieur Yang, says I’m a walking disaster when I dance. Not to mention, I was actually lying when I said that I was the one who ruined my dress.”

_It’s about time that you fessed up about that dress._

Chat pressed his cheek into her head as he began fiddling with her dance scarf. Somehow, he felt like he was getting way too comfortable holding her like this. Ladybug wouldn’t even let him get within an inch of her personal space. Luckily for him, Marinette didn’t seem to mind or was too exhausted to even care that he was holding her intimately.  

“I figured that you were lying about that dress. I’m sorry to hear that your dress was ruined by someone else’s big ego. But to be honest, you didn’t need to tear it to shreds. I admit I was uncomfortable watching you destroy it,” he sighed, “As for your dance moves, I’d tell that Monsieur Yang to stuff it as your dancing was beautiful. You just need confidence that’s all. At least your mother isn’t being too critical with your improvements.” 

_Unlike my dad who wants everything to be pristine and perfect…_

“Thank you… but I’m just nervous. I mean, I’m only used to giving reports in front of my class—which I end up epically failing over anyways. But this, this is a whole other story. I’m going to be performing live in front of not only in front of my parents, but crowds of big wigs, journalists, celebrities, hell, even several of my classmates will be there including stuck up Chloe and her mayor father. I bet she’s only going because she wants to see me fail. Anyways, I’m not used to being in front of a big crowd like you…” 

_Heh… you think I like big crowds, Miss Dupain-Cheng? I can’t even handle paparazzi “party of one” and her name starts with a capital “A”. And don’t get me started on those annoying fangirls. Ugh… they are such a pain to deal with._

“I understand that you don’t want to fail your mom. I’m kind of in the same boat as you with my own family,” he said, mumbling the last sentence into her hair, “I can’t cast a spell that gives you courage when you get on stage as I’m a fighter not a wizard.  And being the handsome spitting image of bad luck that I am, I can’t say to you “you can do it, break a leg.”” 

The comment made the girl look up at him with a questioning gaze as he shot back one of his cheeky smiles.

“I’m being serious. I don’t want you to break a leg like how I almost did today. I can only leave you with words of encouragement by saying that you shouldn’t judge yourself based on your mistakes.  I’ve seen many girls try to hide their flaws and believe me its pathetic when they don’t show them. Instead, I want you to embrace your flaws and let Paris see how beautiful its brightest star truly is.”

Somehow his words struck a chord in Marinette’s heart as she stared up at him with wide blue eyes. Perhaps the cat had given her a moment that changed her awful day into one that ended on a good note.   

“T-T-Thank you,” she whispered, looking as if she going to cry again, “That’s the nicest thing anyone said to me.” 

Suddenly, the girl became lively as she squirmed in his arms and began looking around the room for something. Chat frowned at her sudden mood change as her pigtails began hitting against his zipper bell. She was sniveling in his arms only a moment ago and now here she was ignoring the boy who offered to listen to her hardships and tangling him up with this damn oversized scarf she was attached to. He followed her gaze as she reached over and grabbed object that was discarded on the floor. She quickly hid it behind her back and gazed up at him with a rather familiar look of nervousness Chat only experienced from her as Adrien. 

“U-U-Um… C-C-Chat,” she stuttered, blushing heavily as she trembled in his arms. 

“Yes?” 

“W-Would you… uh… would you consider…”

Chat swore that this girl was meshing his two lives together with her actions.  He cupped her cheek and raised it so she could look him straight in the eye.  Whatever she had to say, he didn’t want her to look away. He wanted her to say to his face. 

“Chat Noir, would you consider attending my performance?” she blurted out, shutting her eyes as she pulled the orange and red ticket from behind her and held it out in front of him. 

_Wait what?_

“I-I-I’m only asking because I- I really feel that you being there would help me get over my stage fright despite the fact that yea you’re the image of bad luck. And well c-consider it a token of my appreciation for protecting my city. I-I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to… I’m sure you’ve got a busy schedule on the weekends. Not to mention, I don’t have any extras to give to Ladybug.  Ah… I’m showing my true colors by doing what I do best again…blurting everything out… and in front of my favorite hero out of the lucky duo too…wait… did I just say that… I can’t believe I just said that… way to go Stutterbug…” 

Chat was left speechless as he slid his claw over his mouth and his face turning red as an apple. Marinette was asking him—him of all people—to accept her last ticket. All day long, Adrien had been wishing to receive a ticket to the performance of a lifetime. And after all the crap he pulled tonight, it took one simple kind gesture to this sweet girl that granted him that wish. Not to mention, Marinette wanted him there because she appreciated him for everything. Normally people would ignore him and focus their attention on Ladybug. Heck, Adrien always believed that Marinette had more important things to worry about than the Lucky Duo. However, the girl flat out deemed Ladybug’s goofy bad luck sidekick as her hero. Her hero! Chat Noir was Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s hero! Ah he wanted to jump for joy at the realization. Yet he restrained himself from doing so as he knew that if he did just that it would weird her out more. 

“Alright, alright,” he spoke up, cutting into her little banter, “I’ll go! I’ll go!”

“R-Really?” 

Chat sheepishly smiled, feeling his own blush grow deeper as he tried to retain his posture. “I-I normally don’t accept gifts from fans,” he said in a low voice, finding himself tripping over his words as he took the crumpled piece of paper from her fingers, “B-But it would be rude of me to decline such an offer from lovely maiden such as yourself.  After all, you let a stray like me into your home despite my feral nature. You fed me, cared for me, even sacrificed one of your beloved processions for me. You made me feel like I was worth something to you.” 

“Chat…” 

“Therefore, it is only natural for a gentleman such as myself to humbly accept your offer. Miss Mariette, it would be my honor to attend your performance.” 

Marinette began to cry again as she threw her arms around his chest, knocking him over. Chat winced at the dulling pain searing through his body. Her tight grip was indeed deadly, but he was willing to deal with it just to see that beautiful smile again. He sat up, still holding her in one arm as he ran his other hand through his blond hair, embarrassed that she was listening to his heart race.  

Within minutes, he felt her hold on him loosen as her breath became slower. He looked down, seeing her fade in and out of conciseness. She looked so exhausted from all that happened today. It made him feel a little guilty that she wasted the last of her energy hugging him. Now this stupid girl was falling asleep on him.

Chat grunted, flinching at the pain as he picked her up bridal style, and turned the light switch off with his belt tail. Figuring that jumping up would prove to be a hassle, he carried her up the steps to her bed, trying desperately not to trip over the long scarf that was still attached to her. How peaceful she looked in as he set her down gently on the mattress. Unfortunately for Chat, he ended up using the last of energy and ended up collapsing face down beside her, his face buried into the stuffed cat pillow . Luckily for him, she did not stir from her slumber. 

The Cat rolled onto his side, propping up his head up with his good arm as he watched her sleep. He lightly brushed a claw through her hair, gently pulling out the hair ties as her blue hair fell around her. Marinette muttered something incoherently in reply but he couldn’t make out what she was saying. She was an odd girl, but an odd, beautiful girl with a big heart and a kind soul.  He had wished that he had told her just how much her touch of kindness meant to him. All this time, he had yearned for a moment where he could find a place filled with love and warmth to call home. And she, this timid and frightened wallflower that sat behind him in class, gave him all this. For the past hours that ticked by, he got to view what it was like to be loved, to be happy, to smile, things that he had been deprived of for so long. All thanks to her. 

Marinette groaned and tilted her head slightly to face him causing Chat to realize that they were far closer than they were earlier. She was even more breathtaking up close. He sat up and leaned over her as he stared at her lips, wondering what it would be like to kiss her. Supported by his good arm, Chat brushed a loose strand of hair that lazily hung on her lips and slowly began to close the gap between them… 

**_~*WUUUGGGGHHHHH*~_ **

The sound of Marinette’s wonderful drunken sailor’s snore snapped him out of his trance as his lips only centimeters away from her. Chat stared down, realizing that he was about to kiss a girl that wasn’t his Ladybug. This ordinary girl that he spent only a few hours with had shattered that promise he made to his Lady. Grunting in a blushing defeat, he quickly kissed her forehead and slid off the bed, landing—painfully—on all fours. 

_Damnit! I should have seen it coming! I should have seen it coming!_

He climbed up onto the rafters, and gazed down at her one more time before escaping into the night with a burst of adrenaline. He cursed the fact that he fell into her trap. All that time, he didn’t see it coming. With that, he leapt out into the night, failing to notice the red kwami that gazed after him as he left. 

“Good night Plagg… see you tomorrow…” 

Once he had returned to his room, Adrien lunged for his bed and sprawled out in agony like a cat. He didn’t know what hurt more: his wounds or the new one in his heart. He fell for her. Geez he had flocks of fangirls, not to mention he had already given his love to Ladybug. But the tonight of all nights, he let his heart get stolen a second time… by the girl who sat behind him. He looked up, seeing Plagg gazing in the direction of where they just were. It was strange to see Plagg lost in thought, let alone thinking seriously about something. Aside from warning him about Marinette becoming a potential victim, he had fallen silent and not in a good way. 

“You okay?” he asked, breaking the bad luck kwami’s concentration. 

“Hmmmm… y-yea, I’m fine. Just thinking, that’s all. H-How are you holding up?” 

Adrien was expecting him to be poking fun at him for falling for Marinette and calling him a pervert for nearly kissing her in her bed. Yet it occurred that something must have happened to the Kwami while they were still at Marinette’s apartment that left him with few words to say. However, he couldn’t help but admit that he feel like he himself was lost in thought.  He pulled out the crumpled orange and red ticket from his shirt pocket and fell back onto his bed. He tried to think of his heroine in red and black, but the image of Marinette’s smiling face kept popping into his head. God it would be so hard for him to even look at her tomorrow when she’d pass him the geography quiz papers.

“Honestly, Plagg,” he sighed, covering his eyes, “I think my heart is torn between two girls now. One part belongs to my Lady. The other part was stolen by my guilty pleasure.”


End file.
